Abstract: If there was a book that had a definition for every person on Earth and I looked up my definition, it would read an extremely hard worker who is determined to do everything he does the best he possibly can. As cliché as the may sound, that would be the best way to define myself. Nothing I ve done throughout my life has been easy, but my hard work and relentless attitude I learned from my parents and coaches have helped me achieve things that I could only dream of achieving as a child. As with everything I ve ever done, I will use my work ethic and determination to achieve my goal of earning a teaching degree at Manchester College, and I will use this degree to help teach kids the power of working hard and giving everything that they have in not just the classroom, but in life in general.
My Autobiography My mother had just graduated from Indiana University with a degree as a Doctor of Medicine when she brought me into this world on March 13, 1989. Needless to say, she had a ton on her plate before I was born, so I m sure I only made the chaos a little more hectic than it already was! I remember when I was 8 years old and I asked mom what she remembered first when she thought about giving birth to me. I figured she d say the pain of the delivery or something along those lines, but instead she told me, I didn t have to worry about you kicking inside me like crazy every time we went to Pizza Hut! That statement can define the earliest memories I have about my childhood. My parents love me to death and always have, but I can remember when they started to switch my diet from baby food to regular food and how much of a pain that I was in their sides. I had to be one of the pickiest kids in the entire country, as I wouldn t eat most of the stuff they gave me. But I loved pizza! I would have ate it for every meal if I could and never got sick of having it! Fortunately, I gradually started to find more foods that I liked other than pizza and my parents finally could stop pulling their hair out. When my sister was born and I was only 3 years old, I didn t understand why my parents didn t play with me near as much as they used to. Like most young children, my sister and I constantly bickered and fought with one another for attention purposes. I admit that I was not a perfect little angel as a toddler. I had a tendency to be a little menace sometimes and like most children, listening to my elders was not always a top priority. But I learned pretty quickly that not listening was not an option, especially from my father. For the most part, however, I was an innocent little guy who just loved to be outside and ride
around in my plastic car for hours on end. I enjoyed my mom playing music for me and playing with me on my baby swing, which gave me the greatest thrill ever! My kindergarten experience was one long roller coaster ride. After my initial school year began, I learned quickly that I couldn t speak endlessly during class. I was one of the brightest children in my grade, but my immaturity forced my teacher to enroll in a readiness program. At that point, my readiness teacher, Mrs. Bryan, helped get me moving into the right direction. Sometimes I became irritated with her because she kept pushing me and pushing me, but in the end, her willingness to help me get on track changed my life. She was by far the best influence I ever had when it came to teachers. Once I started to behave and become much more mature, things came easily for me throughout elementary school. I worked my tail off and for the most part, my teachers loved having me in class. Like most young children, I had my moments where I was a trouble maker, but as I got older, those moments became more and more rare. My parents would be the first to say that my life never really started though until I turned 8 and I saw my first football game on television. I was completely glued to the television as guys with helmets and padded pants tackled and blocked and caught passes. I ll just say it was love at first sight. I loved to watch my favorite player at the time, Cris Carter, catch passes and score touchdowns. I learned my work ethic and determination from my parents at a young age. My parents pushed me in school and on the athletic fields to do the best I can and even though it was difficult sometimes, it helped sculpt the person that I am today. Sometimes I think my parents may have pushed me too hard, but ultimately, it helped me get through a lot of things that I wouldn t have otherwise. I always worked extra time on my schoolwork and would come home and shoot baskets
and hit and throw baseballs for hours on end to keep improving. I was determined to be a great athlete from the day I started playing and I already had thoughts about coaching when I was done playing. But as I approached high school, the thought of becoming a teacher was non-existent and I started to become interested in a profession in art. Throughout middle school, I became fascinated in creating my own Corbin Dioxide comic books and started making them and selling them to kids from school. Eventually I didn t have time to continue my comic business because of sports and academic commitments, but drawing has always been one of my favorite hobbies. Despite not having time to create comics, my main academic focus in high school was to get as many drawing classes into my schedule as I could fit into it while still obtaining an academic honors diploma from DeKalb High School. I had high expectations for myself as a student athlete and I was determined to get all A s and be an all-conference athlete. I managed to achieve my goals by taking and completing four AP courses throughout high school while also fitting in eight drawing courses along the way. I allowed myself to enjoy participating in multiple sports in high school as well, as I earned All-NHC honors in football and baseball both my junior and senior years and had multiple offers to play football at Division I schools. Selecting where I wanted to continue my academic and athletic career was a very difficult choice for me. I had local schools such as Purdue and Indiana that I was considering, but I really like Boise State University as well. I thought I had achieved my greatest goal of all, which was to play college football at the highest possible level. Unfortunately, that experience never was allowed to happen. During my spring baseball season, I became very ill. I continued to play for the rest of the season and hoped
that I could still play football the next fall. However, I continued to get progressively worse, and I no longer had scholarship opportunities at any big schools for football. My initial hope was to go to Manchester College, get healthy, have an outstanding season, and then transfer to a larger school to continue my football career. But as the summer continued, I realized I wasn t going to be able to play ball, at least not until baseball season. So I enrolled at Manchester College as a computer animation major, hoping that I could finally get healthy and get my life back on track. I fought and fought throughout my freshman year, but things continued to spiral downward and I was beginning to lose control of myself. I d lost football scholarships, my grades were slipping well below my standards, and I was too sick to go to class a lot of the time, especially during the second semester. After getting out of the hospital during Spring Break, I finally started to get things back on track. My special physicians finally figured out that I had Crohn s disease, a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon and intestines that also affects the bowels. My health continued to improve, and I worked extremely hard all summer long to get myself back where I wanted to be. I decided that my best option at this point was to become a teacher. I love working with children and teaching youth, and I also have my eyes set on someday becoming a head football coach so that I can not only teach children the education they need, I can also teach my players the great game of football. Despite not being physically able to play football anymore, I am in the process of remaking my life and finding new hobbies. I ve become interested in stand up comedy, as I can impersonate over 90 different celebrities, and I also am in the process of getting a heavy metal band together here at the college.
Originally, Manchester College was supposed to be a stop-gap so that I could resurrect my football career. But now, after everything that I ve had to fight through the past year, the college and its education program offer me a true second chance. I needed a fresh start, and I m now proud to call Manchester College my school and I m excited to use my work ethic and determination that has gotten my life back on track to now become a great teacher who the kids look up to and want to learn from. I ve been knocked down and gotten back up and then got knocked back down, but as with everything that I do, I eventually will stand up and stay up. Not even a chronic illness has stopped me from continuing to go after goals and using my relentless drive to get where I want to be, and I m eternally grateful for Manchester s education program to lead me to my career path.